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A year ago we at HooPs, excited to start the 2013-2014 season previewed and highlighted last year’s season with excitement on the following:
– the Battle in the Western Conference
– Weighed on the chances of the Heat three-peat
– Return of Derrick Rose
– And the draft class of the summer of 2014

Some things haven’t changed and some have.

The West is conceivably just as deep as it was a year ago. There are 7 or 8 teams that have championship aspirations. There may be as many as 12 Western teams that could make the playoffs if they were in the Eastern conference.

Derrick Rose is set to return “AGAIN”. Wish him a healthy season.

The Heat failed to three-peat while The Spurs hoist their 5th championship of the Duncan era. Now on to the 2014-2015 season.

New Faces in New PlacesJeremy Lin in Los Angeles. Chandler Parsons in Dallas. Trevor Ariza in Houston. Jason Terry in Houston. LeBron JAMES BACK IN CLEVELAND! Chris Bosh stays in Miami. Pao Gasol in Chicago. Luol Deng in Miami. Kevin Love in CLEVELAND. Lance Stephenson to Charlotte. Melo stays in New York. Who else of importance? Paul Pierce to the Wizards. And the Spurs still have their big 3 and the best coach in the league. Favorites? Yes!

How the West was WonThe West is better than ever. We say that every year but chew on this. The top 3 teams in the West in no particular order are Spurs, Thunder and Clippers. The next 3 are Warriors, Blazers and Grizzlies again in no particular order. Only 2 of these 6 teams will make the playoffs: Rockets, Mavericks, Suns, Kings and Nuggets and Timberwolves.
It’s possible that 10 teams in the West will have winning records. To get into the playoffs may require 50 wins this season in the loaded West!
(Last year, Dallas won 49 games as the 8th seed)

Opening Night: October 28, 2014Three games slated for Tuesday, 10/28/2014
Magic vs Pelicans
and then 2 games on TNT. First the Mavericks visit the Spurs for a Texas showdown and then the Rockets visit the Lakers in the late night game.
In game 2, Kobe Bryant plays against Dwight Howard and Jeremy Lin plays against his former team.

Championship Contenders

East–

Cleveland. Any team with LeBron James, who is widely regarded as the best player on the planet, is an instant title contender. Now add Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving, Shawn Marion, Mike Miller, Dion Waiters, Anderson Varejao and James Jones. First you had my interest, now you have my attention! (Django Unchained)

All other eastern conference teams are playing for third place with Raptors and Wizards likely to round out the top 4.

West–
Spurs – Embark on their first “successful” title defense.
Clippers and Chris Paul – Hope to get to CP3’s first ever Conference Finals.
Thunder – Plan to weather the storm till reigning MVP Kevin Durant returns.
Warriors, Mavericks, Rockets and Grizzlies – Wish to join the elite of the West and make deep playoff runs.

Let’s get it Started!
Welcome to the 2014-2015 NBA season.
May the best team win!

8 playoff matchups in 48 hours. It’s like Christmas at HoopsReportCard!
This is the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Time to open the best present of all, the most exciting first round matchup this postseason – the battle between the #3 seed in the West and the #6 seed in the West. The LA Clippers vs the Golden State Warriors!

You can get playoff previews from any and every site out there, so lets not breakdown matchups and coaching strategies and bench production and 3 point shooting.
LET’s enjoy TOGETHER the greatness of Chris Paul.
The sharp shooting of Steph Curry (and Klay Thompson).
The emergence of Blake Griffin.
The absence of Andre Bogut.
The insertion of Jermaine O’Neal.
The defense of De’Andre Jordan.Let’s.
Starting today at 12:30pm PST!

News and Notes:

BROOKLYN: the Nets started the season 10-31 and many called for first year coach Jason Kidd’s head. What say they now that the Nets will be the first time since The Kings in 1986 to make the playoffs after being over 10 games below .500 at December 31st.

San Antonio: another 60 win season. that’s 4 (four) for Gregg Popovich. They have the number one overall seed. 15 straight seasons with 50+ wins. From the days of the Admiral to today with Tim Duncan, the Spurs have enjoyed the consistent on court and front office leadership in the NBA in this era.

WESTERN CONFERENCE PLAYOFF RACE:
Dallas & Memphis get the last 2 seeds in the West at the expense of Phoenix who had an awesome season.

On March 19 this year, we prematurely “coronated” the Miami Heat as champions. We were unaware that their eventual foe would be a formidable, fearless, battle-tested, veteran team – The San Antonio Spurs. The first round injury to Russell Westbrook effectively eliminated the Oklahoma City Thunder which had the best record in the West during the regular season. Most would still pick the Heat in a landslide against the Thunder.

Here we are with game 1 tonight – the Spurs representing the West and the Heat representing the East for all the marbles – the 2013 NBA championship.

Who wins this exciting matchup? The MVP and the widely recognized best player in the WORLD, LeBron James OR the 4-time NBA champions led by future Hall of Famers Tim Duncan and San Antonio Spurs.

The Spurs are a daunting task to Miami’s repeat hopes. Love this matchup for all those that feel the NBA is rigged! For Miami to win back to back titles and get LeBron his 2nd ring and Dwayne Wade his 3rd title, they will have to endure ferocious defense, get help from others outside LeBron and rebond the Ball. On the other hand, for the Spurs to win and get their 5th title, they will have to keep LeBron in check, keep Bosh & Wade subpar and steal homecourt advantage.

With so many factors favoring the veteran Spurs, should we reconsider crowing the Heat? Will the BEST PLAYER on the Planet raise the trophy? Or will the BEST TEAM on the Planet win? I’ve changed my mind back and forth all week.

For the first time in years, I feel like both teams deserve it! Tim Duncan could cement his already marvelous resume by tying Kobe Bryant with 5 titles. The veteran Spurs have had an impressive playoff run. They swept the Grizzles in the conference finals. Greg Popovich is 4-0 in 4 trips to the Finals. The Heat are in 3 consecutive finals. Lebron is in his 4th NBA finals. He has revenge on his mind. He can silence his critics even more by raising the trophy.

Decision time – I have gone back and forth all week. With gametime in 6 hours, I’ll force myself to make a decision now. Heat in 6 or 7.

Why? It wouldn’t surprise me if the Spurs won. It’s that close. But I’m choosing the team with Homecourt advantage AND the team with the best player. I feel LeBron will put the Heat on his back and carry them to victory. Star Power.

Repeat- the Miami Heat in 6 or 7 games. Sticking with Crowing the Heat (already)!